Absence of Malice

A good drama about guilt by association and what happens when a newspaper just goes for the story. This is the central idea; the 'sweet revenge' secondary plot satisfies the audience. For every Gallagher who 'gets even' there are probably 100 John Does who get hurt due by being near big news. {Who reads the retractions?}

Revenge is sweet and Michael Colin Gallagher (Paul Newman) get 'em all. He beats them with his brains and their weaknesses. Wilford Brimley gives an Oscar worthy performance in a supporting role.

Newman and Brimley both get to be gruff and cool as hell and Pollack does his usual solid work inspite of a pretty bland script, but Field is just intolerable. I don't know what it is, but something about her makes me want to cut her open and fuck her right in the kidneys just to hear her really scream. Yeah, yeah, yeah- calm down, motherfuckers. I said I wanted to, not that I'm gonna.

Thoughtful, absorbing examination of the media's responsibility when it comes to the protection of reputations in the pursuit of a great story. Newman and Field are both terrific and charismatic, but Dillon in support steals the show in a finely etched performance of desperation. Brimley also has a wonderful cameo towards the end as a cynical mediator. Film may be very much a product of its time, but its observations on the media still hold up today. A fine entry in the Pollack canon.

Media <-> politician manipulation. Things happening in the Bush administration seem to be nothing new, viewed through the eyes of this excellent film. Not hard to imagine real life Bob Balaban characters at work in our modern day Dept. of Justice.

The film makes for an enjoyable evening if you don't squint too hard at the details. Everything about the reporting is pretty thin and flimsy, which raises questions of believability. The naiveté of Field's journalist is pretty profound. But Newman's quiet and steady character creates a good foil for her, though nothing matches Brimley coming in and making the film his own for the 10 minutes he's on screen.

Subtitled: "Ethics are somebody else's problem." It's a long twisted tale about a lot of people chasing their own agendas, all seeing "noble" ends that don't ever seem to arrive. (I was idly wondering who would ever talk to a journalist after watching this.) Funny that with all the big-name stars here, it's Brimley and Dillon in brief scenes that are the most memorable.

A trim, well-paced newspaper melodrama that queries journalistic practices. ... Sydney Pollack's directing is efficient and the film is moderately entertaining, but it leaves no residue.

Struggled with what to rank this. It's very dated WRT newspapers etc, but at the same time, it feels like this could happen today except with oh say, phone hacking or something. I loved the "It's 1981, nobody will care if you get an abortion" thing because holy shit now it's 2012 and southerners STILL haven't grown brains

A good film with a good script about ethics in law and journalism. Field and Newman are both at the height of their acting powers. Wilford Brimley and Balaban give noteworthy character performances, and Melinda Dylan is extraordinarily moving.

esquecível

Paul Newman and Sally Field give excellent performances in this film. This movie also has an interesting supporting cast. The plot revolves around the ethics of reporting among other things. If you are a fan of Newman's or Field's then you must check out this film.

Plainly uninteresting and mostly boring and dated, though it's still pretty well performed, specially by Dillon, Newman and Field.

Score based on distant memory.

eh, kind of confusing. sally field is a BABE though

The film is entertaining and thought-provoking. Excellent cast.

A boring piece of shit movie that nobody should watch. It's so average it's awful realizing there is no real good reason to watch this movie

80 if Brimley snapped Balaban's rubber band